Democrats’ road to winning back the House goes through California

Democrats intent on taking back the House in 2018 have settled on a key strategy: focusing on the 23 districts nationwide where voters chose Republicans for Congress last year but favored Democrat Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for the presidency. Seven of those seats are in California, and Democrats must win at least a few of them to have a shot at regaining power.

There are some reasons for Democrats to be optimistic. There’s been a surge of enthusiasm among the anti-Trump “resistance” at rallies and town halls, as well as a bumper crop of passionate Democratic challengers who have filed to run in California. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has launched a satellite office in Orange County, a former bastion of conservatism that last year voted for a Democratic presidential candidate for the first time in 80 years and is home to four of the districts they’re eyeing.